Online Business Update 2

It’s been about 7 months since I last did an update on our business that sells physical products. I know that last time I posted about it there was a fair bit of interest, and plenty of people were stating that they wanted to open an online store, but either didn’t have time or hadn’t investigated it thoroughly enough.

Update Time

Things have continued to chug along nicely over the last few months, although the one thing that has gone backwards is our Google rankings. For whatever reason Google decided that it didn’t like our website and rankings have essentially stalled/reversed in some cases.

I’m not really all that concerned though as we are getting great traffic from social media sites and our income has remained largely unimpacted by Google at all.

Sales

I know this is all that people are really interested in so here it is.

As you can see – sales continue to go well without any love from Google. To be honest, i’m actually really happy that we finally have a website that isn’t reliant on Google for income. It has been a real weak point in my online income efforts for a while now, and it is great to be able to start diversifying.

Profit

Despite all the sales that we have made, we are still not in profit. The main reason for this is that we spent a little over $17,000 setting up this business and so we are still trying to claw our way back from the initial outlay. Having said that, if we continue at this pace I expect that we will be in profit before this time next year.

Expenses

Unfortunately I don’t have the exact details on our expenses (my wife has all this in a spreadsheet), but I do know that on average we spend about 25-30% of what we make each month in shipping/advertising and restocking.

Here is the graph for this financial year (haven’t got October sorted yet):

Then there is also tax to consider, which will reduce our overall profit.

Future Direction

Seeing as we are still selling plenty of stock, we have decided to ramp up our operations as we know we have a product that people want to buy. Over the next month my wife and I will open 3 new online stores that will sell the same products. The main idea behind this is that there are plenty of different ways for us to market our product and I want to diversify even further. I am hoping that within 6 months we can get to a point where we are selling at least 1 item per day, which would put this part of our online income portfolio at about $3000 a month.

The ultimate goal is to continue building up these sites (plus others in similar niches) to a point where we are replacing my wife’s income from when she used to work full time. Considering she only spends about an hour each day on these stores, it is a far better income producing proposition than going to work full time, although it isn’t passive income like the niche sites that I have been building.

If you have any questions please leave them in the comments section below.

I, too, own an online business that I run on three different platforms – Etsy, eBay and my own website (www.confettiandco.com.au). I’ve had them for a number of years now and while there have been some really, really good months – mostly when eBay still worked – it can be a real roller-coaster ride if you’re not getting consistent traffic.

I’d be very interested to know what sort of approach you take to using social media to promote your products and business.

I’m glad that Google hasn’t had a negative impact on your product sales Glen – you’re making this business work without worrying too much about Google which is great to know. I look forward to seeing the next progress update on this.Hayley @ Disease Called Debt recently posted..Debt Elimination Tips #3: The Skip and Pay Technique

Hi Glen! Thats very cool. Can I ask what the startup costs were for? I assume building the website and ordering inventory? But would you share a breakdown? Cheers!Thomas @ i need money ASAP! recently posted..What To Do If You Need Money For Christmas

Most Popular

Disclaimer

I am not a financial expert. Information published on this website has been prepared for general entertainment / informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice to any particular person. Any information contained on this web page is general in nature and does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or individual needs.

Before making an investment decision based on this information you should consider, with or without the assistance of a qualified adviser, whether it is appropriate to your particular investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances.

As a result, readers are encouraged to seek professional advice before making any major decisions. www.monsterpiggybank.com or its writers cannot be held liable for any loss or damages that result of advice or tips on www.monsterpiggybank.com.